Rare Ray Camera Ray #1 Antique dark room safe light, oil kerosene tole lamp

Description

This is a rare antique "Ray" darkroom lantern dating to the 19th century, circa 1896->1899. The red painted tin tole lamp is embossed on the front panel "Ray No. 1".
Ray eventually became part of Kodak.
History of
Ray Camera
In 1884 Albert Mutschler and John A. Robertson founded the
Mutschler and Robertson Company
in Rochester, N.Y. In 1896 it started to make
Ray
cameras. In 1898 the company was renamed to
Ray Camera Company
. In 1899 it was merged with others to Rochester Optical & Camera Company.
Rochester Optical & Camera Company
.
In 1883 the
Rochester Optical Company
was founded by W. F. Carlton when he took over the assets of camera maker
William H. Walker
.
In 1899 it became participant of an unsuccessful merger of camera companies. The resulting company made losses and was
taken over by
Kodak
in 1903.